SILVER MAPLE (_Acer saccharinum_) is generally called soft maple by lumbermen. It is known also as white maple, river maple, silver-leaved maple, swamp maple, and water maple. The sinuses of the leaves are very deep. The lighter color of its bark and the pale green of the leaves distinguish soft maple at a glance from sugar maple when both are in full leaf. The greenish-yellow flowers open in early spring, and the seeds are ripe in April or May, depending on the season and region. The seeds have large wings and fly well. They germinate in a few days after they find suitable soil, and before the end of the summer the seedlings have grown several leaves. The vigor thus displayed continues until the tree is large. It is a fast grower, and for that reason has been extensively planted as a street and park tree. The wisdom of doing so is doubtful, for this maple throws out long limbs which are often broken by wind. The trunk is subject to disease, and a row of old soft maples nearly always presents a ragged, unkempt, neglected appearance. As to beauty of form and crown, there is little comparison between it and the planted sugar maple. Soft maples in forests range from seventy-five to 120 feet in height, and two to four in diameter; that is, they attain about the same size as sugar maples. The species covers a million square miles, practically the whole country east of the Mississippi, some west of that river, and most of eastern Canada. It is a useful wood for many purposes. The custom of mixing this with sugar maple makes it impossible to clearly separate the two woods afterwards. It is the opinion of some well-informed manufacturers that about five per cent of the total maple cut in the United States is soft maple. The ratio is less in the North and more in the South. The wood is hard, strong, rather brittle, easily worked, pale brown with thick, white sapwood. Some rather large trunks have no sapwood. It is in general use, but not for as many purposes as sugar maple. The largest places found for it are as flooring and woodenware, though furniture and boxes, particularly veneer boxes, consume much. Its weight is three-fourths that of sugar maple. The largest trees and the best wood grow in the lower Ohio valley. [Illustration] RED MAPLE [Illustration: RED MAPLE] RED MAPLE (_Acer Rubrum_) This tree’s names describe it. Some refer to color of leaves, flowers, and fruit, others to situation where it grows best. It is known as red maple and swamp maple; also as water maple, white maple, scarlet maple, and shoepeg maple. New York Indians called it ah-we-hot-kwah, which meant red flower. Most trees looked alike to Indians, and when they gave a name, it was descriptive.